Chicago Hot Dogs
By Doug Criner
A Chicago-style hot dog is typically served with the following accoutrements: yellow mustard, green pickle relish, chopped onion, sport peppers (small, smooth, dark-green pickled peppers), kosher dill pickle, cucumber spear, a couple of thin tomato slices or wedges, a steamed poppy-seed bun, and celery salt. Everything is put on top of the hot dog—including the kosher dill and cucumber spear, which are laid parallel with and on top of the dog. Don't worry about remembering all these toppings--if you order a Chicago dog with everything, that's what you'll get.
Ketchup is never served on a real Chicago-style hot dog. Even if you like ketchup, don't apply it to your dog in public. Hot-dog stands have ketchup on the counter if you insist on using it, but it isn't considered proper to order a hot dog with ketchup.
Interestingly, of all the above ingredients, the dog itself seems to have the most flexibility. No single brand is universally accepted. Hot-dog stands will sell steamed dogs, but grilled or boiled dogs are OK.
The official Chicago hot-dog relish must be bright, neon green. My preferred brand, Vienna, identifies its coloring as "Blue No. 1."
The sport peppers are just the right size for two of them to perch on top of the dog. I know of no acceptable substitute for the sport peppers sold in Chicago. The light-green salad peppers used in Italian beef sandwiches cannot be used on a hot dog.
A poppy-seed bun is essential and a regular hot-dog bun cannot be used. Some years ago, a Chicago-based company decided to ship a huge stash of hot-dog "fixins" to the troops overseas, but the project had to be cancelled when the Army worried that the poppy-seed buns might cause soldiers to test positive on drug tests.
Just plain, old, bright-yellow mustard is fine. No Grey Poupon or other sissy stuff.
Celery salt shaken on the finished dog is critical.
There are many hot-dog stands in Chicago that serve the real McCoy. Unfortunately, neither ballpark, Wrigley Field or Sox Park, has them. As a White Sox fan, here is my solution: On the day of the game, park at Morrie O’Malley’s hot-dog stand at 35th Street and Union, a few blocks west of Sox Park, in the Bridgeport neighborhood. They guy who operates the place is a retired Chicago cop. I think his name is Bob O’Malley, not Morrie. Maybe he’s a second-generation owner.
Anyway, he’ll charge you for parking in his lot during the game, and you can be sure that your car will be safe. After parking, I eat a couple of O’Malley’s hot dogs, with fries and a vanilla shake. If the weather is nice, he’ll have several tables set up outside, nicely shaded. He also has a row of seats salvaged from the old Comiskey Park.
When you park your car, ask O’Malley for directions for leaving after the game. He knows the neighborhood and can help you avoid traffic.
O'Malley's isn't open on Sundays. There is another good hot dog stand, several blocks north of 35th on Union, that is open on Sundays.
If you’re a Cubs fan, I can’t help you. Cubs Suck!
Message Received from Bill Ladany, June 2008:
Hey Doug,
Hi, how's it going? I just wanted to introduce myself and share a little bit
about my company. First of all, let me start off by saying I really enjoyed
navigating through your website. You provide a lot of helpful information to
the hot dog eating public. And you accomplish this in a fun manner.
The company my family owns is called Red Hot Chicago. We specialize in the
manufacturing of 100% pure beef hot dogs, polish sausages, bratwursts, corn
dogs, chili, hamburger patties, italian beef, as well as several more items.
Our business headquarters are here in Chicago but our product line is available
in just about every major market across the country.
Real quick history lesson. My great grandfather, Samuel Ladany, was one of the
two original founders of the Vienna Beef sausage company. He came over to the
states in 1893 and began selling hot dogs out of a push cart during the
Columbian Exposition. This went so well that he went on to open up a factory on
Chicago's south side. When he outgrew this spot, Vienna moved to the existing
location on Chicago's north side. Upon my grandfather's death in 1978, my
father Scott, who had been working at Vienna for nearly a decade at the time,
decided to sell his share in the business. Red Hot Chicago was born!
Our current factory is in Chicago's north west side. We manufacture Monday
through Friday. We currently offer plant tours. We love what we do and truly
believe our hot dog is among the best tasting leading national brands. I would
gladly ship you a complimentary sample so you can share in the Red Hot Chicago
experience.
Like all companies, we are trying to grow. We're a smaller family-owned
business and need all the support we can get. Red Hot Chicago is asking you if
you'd be willing to put a link to our website somewhere within your site. I
think you have a great tool here and if we form a small partnership, I
anticipate seeing a spike in both of our website's traffic.
Thank you for the opportunity to get in touch with you. Websites like yours is
what really motivates us to keep making the best products around. We are trying
to spread that all too fun hot dog love as far as it will reach. If you have
any further questions, comments, or a request for some FREE samples, I will
gladly accommodate you as best I can.
Looking forward to hearing back from you and I hope you have a great weekend.
Billy Ladany
Red Hot Chicago
Vice President
4649 West Armitage Avenue
Chicago, IL 60639
Work(312)829-3434 ext. 202
Cell(847)651-3951
Fax(312)829-2704
http://www.redhotchicago.com
® Doug Criner, 2003-04